Assessing validity of retrospective recall of physical activity in individuals with psychosis-like experiences

Psychosis-like experiences are present in the general population and may indicate risk for more severe forms of psychosis. They are associated with cognitive impairments, potentially impacting ability to accurately complete certain self-report measures. This study investigated whether the presence of psychosis-like experiences was associated with impairments in retrospective reports of physical activity, a measure salient to this population, by comparing post-study questionnaire data on activity level with reports of activity contemporaneously collected through ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants (n = 39) were 18–25 years of age and recruited via stratified sampling to maximize representation of a full psychosis-like experience spectrum. Mobile questionnaires were sent six times a day for one week, and included questions probing amount and intensity of activity. Upon completion of the EMA week, participants completed a retrospective recall of the past week's activity. High levels of psychosis-like experiences were associated with poorer recall for past sedentary behavior as evidenced by the moderating effect of psychosis-like experiences on the relation between retrospective and in vivo measured sedentary activity (interaction effect: b = −0.26, t(1) = −2.04, p = 0.05, f ² = 0.08). Findings call into question the validity of retrospective self-reporting of activity level for those experiencing psychosis-like experiences.